Sustaining a legacy of selfless service

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cory W. Bush
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  After laying a brother in arms to rest, he reaches out to hand a mother an American flag, hoping to comfort her after her son’s death.

Since 1948, Air Force Honor Guardsmen have sustained ceremonial support, representing every United States Air Force member, past and present.

Today, Tech. Sgt. Martin Wallace, 31st Fighter Wing Honor Guard lead instructor, continues this legacy and commitment as he trains and mentors Team Aviano’s next generation of honor guardsmen.

Wallace currently leads more than 30 Airmen working to become fully qualified honor guardsmen. It’s his duty to ensure they’re prepared to participate in a military ceremony.

“I love being an honor guardsman instructor,” said Wallace. “There’s something really special about seeing an Airman come to their first practice not knowing anything, to [then] knowing everything weeks later.”

Being an honor guardsmen isn’t an Airman’s first responsibility. It’s an additional commitment which takes time and energy away from primary duties and personal responsibilities.

“As Airmen, our jobs come first,” said Wallace. “It’s not until I’m done with my primary duty as a contracting specialist that I can do my part as an honor guardsman. Luckily, I’ve had full support from my leaders to pursue this role throughout the years.”

Wallace has used his experiences over the years to try and become the best instructor for his honor guard Airmen.

“We train, train, and train for situations where the family of the fallen just break down right in front of you, but you don’t really know how you’re going to react until you experience it for real,” said Wallace. “As an instructor, I constantly remind the students in training that we’re representing the Air Force and we must be strong for a grieving family.”

Honor guardsmen train on maintaining their bearing no matter what is going on around them. In order to practice this, Wallace and his team line up and perform each movement of every ceremony. If anyone falters they start over and go through each movement again until each person can keep their bearing.


“Seeing a member perform their first detail is one of my favorite things,” said Wallace. “We all have put the time in to perfect the movements. Behind that student is an instructor showing them the way – that’s who I challenge myself to be.”

According to Wallace, it’s imperative for honor guardsman to uphold the highest standards and understand everything their role entails before putting it into action.

“What keeps me going after all these years is the first funeral I went to,” said Wallace. “It was also the first time I was chosen to present the flag to the mother who lost her child. The mother broke down completely as I handed her the flag, and it took everything in me to keep my composure. It’s something we just have to do as guardsman and that’s why I continue to teach the generations to come.”